I Challenge You

Now that he had obtained the system, Ling Feng was having the time of his life.

Even when school let out, Ling Feng was still basking in the joy of the incredible gift package the system had given him.

He was also brimming with anticipation, eager to try out those ninjutsu.

As soon as the teacher dismissed them, the dreary classroom burst into life.

The students behaved exactly like those from his previous life.

Ling Feng stood up, ready to head home.

But a girl's voice rang out behind him.

"Ling Feng, we have tomorrow off. Want to hang out with us?"

Ling Feng turned around. It was Kurenai Yuhi.

Beside her stood Rin Nohara.

"Tomorrow? Sure. I wanted to get out anyway. Where are we going?"

Kurenai Yuhi and Rin Nohara exchanged glances.

Clearly, neither of them had thought that far ahead.

Ling Feng smiled. "Then how about this? We go hiking, then soak in the hot springs. Sound good?"

The girls immediately responded with delight. "Yes, yes! You always have the best ideas, Ling Feng."

But two people in the corner were seething with jealousy.

One was Asuma, and the other was Obito Uchiha.

To be fair, both of them had rather special backgrounds.

One was the son of the Third Lord Hokage, and the other was a member of the Uchiha Clan.

Those backgrounds alone were enough to make ordinary people in Konoha treat them with considerable deference.

But Ling Feng couldn't have cared less.

Even before receiving the system's gift package, Ling Feng had been strong enough to teach them a lesson. Now, he could utterly trounce them.

After settling on a time with the girls,

Ling Feng prepared to leave the classroom alone.

The girls had already left together.

"Hey! You! Stop right there!"

Asuma's voice came from behind him.

Ling Feng stopped and turned around.

Asuma stood before him with an arrogant look, while Obito Uchiha remained in the corner, clearly too afraid to step forward.

Ling Feng scoffed at the sight.

One was a weakling with courage but no skill, and the other was a weakling with neither skill nor courage.

If the latter hadn't awakened his Three-Tomoe Sharingan because of a certain incident, he probably would have remained dead last for the rest of his life.

"What do you want, weakling?"

Ling Feng leaned against the wall with his arms folded, raising an eyebrow.

Asuma bared his teeth in fury at the sight. This guy was far too arrogant!

He was just a commoner with no standing whatsoever!

"What did you call me? You're asking for a beating!"

Asuma still wore a fierce expression.

To be fair, Asuma really did look rather intimidating.

He looked just like an ape.

"If you've got something to say, spit it out. Don't put on an act in front of me."

Ling Feng tilted his head, his face full of disdain.

Asuma had been utterly spineless in front of Kurenai Yuhi, yet the moment she left, he came looking for trouble. What a useless idiot.

With courage like that, he deserved to go unnoticed by Kurenai Yuhi!

But Ling Feng wasn't about to point that out.

The reason was simple: he was definitely going to win Kurenai Yuhi over himself!

"You! I challenge you to a one-on-one fight!"

Unable to take it anymore, Asuma shouted.

Behind him, Obito Uchiha froze in shock, then immediately ran over.

"Asuma, don't do anything stupid! We'll get disciplined if we fight at school!"

Asuma faltered at that. Clearly, he had been so blinded by anger that the thought hadn't even crossed his mind.

Their backgrounds lent them a certain prestige. There was no helping their lack of ability, but their conduct also reflected on their families.

If they really were disciplined at school, they would likely embarrass the Third Hokage and the Uchiha Clan, and neither of them would get off lightly.

For a moment, the atmosphere grew awkward, especially for Asuma. He had already made his threats, only to find he couldn't fight. How frustrating was that?

But Ling Feng was a good person, so he offered without hesitation, "That's fine. If we can't fight at school, can't we just fight outside?"

Asuma immediately clapped his hands in delight. "Right, right! We can fight outside. Thanks for reminding me."

"Then let's go outside and fight one-on-one. How about it?"

Ling Feng shook his head. "No thanks."

That left Asuma baffled. Huh? Didn't he just say we could fight outside? Why was he refusing now?

"Ling Feng, are you scared?" Asuma asked with a frown.

Well, look at that. Already trying to goad people at his age.

Unfortunately, that had no effect whatsoever on someone who had lived two lives and traveled to another world.

"Do I look scared to you? I just have something to do at home. How about this? You two come along on tomorrow's outing, and you can challenge me then. We'll be far from school, so we can fight all we want."

With that, Ling Feng slipped his hands into his pockets and walked out of the classroom without looking back.

Ling Feng really did have something to do at home: study the all-nature ninjutsu he had just obtained.

He would have been halfway home by now if that idiot Asuma hadn't insisted on stirring up trouble.

Watching Ling Feng swagger away, Asuma was so angry that his head practically steamed.

"Damn it! That guy is way too arrogant! Tomorrow, I'm going to knock his teeth out!"

Asuma waved his fists, his face filled with indignation.

Beside him, Obito Uchiha hurriedly said, "Don't be so impulsive. We're all classmates. There's no need to make things this hostile, is there?"

At that, Asuma grabbed Obito Uchiha by the collar.

"Are you serious? Didn't you see how much attention Rin Nohara was paying to Ling Feng too? I know you like Rin Nohara, right?"

Obito Uchiha immediately blushed and waved his hands frantically. "No, no, I don't."

"Like hell you don't! I'm telling you, if we don't do something, Kurenai Yuhi and Rin Nohara will both fall in love with Ling Feng!"

Asuma looked exasperated with him.

Obito Uchiha suddenly saw the light, and his face filled with anger too. "That jerk! Make sure you hit him hard tomorrow!"

Asuma: ...

What? After all that, you're not planning to fight him yourself?

Meanwhile, Ling Feng rushed home as quickly as he could. Naturally, he had no idea what the two weaklings had said after he left, nor did he care.

Ling Feng's home was a tiny one-bedroom apartment with a small kitchen and bathroom. He had to eat in his bedroom because there was no living room or dining room.

Though cramped and tiny, it was already a pretty good arrangement for an orphan.

At least he was much better off than the orphans in other villages. Konoha was the largest ninja village, after all, so its welfare benefits were naturally a little better.

After making and eating a simple bowl of noodle soup, Ling Feng returned to his bedroom and began studying the all-nature ninjutsu.

The system said I'd mastered every ninjutsu below A-rank. Let's put that to the test!

The first things that came to Ling Feng's mind were the techniques he had been learning recently: the Transformation Technique and the Shadow Clone Technique.

One allowed him to take on someone else's appearance, while the other created clones.

Neither technique was difficult, but they were enough to keep five- or six-year-old children busy practicing.